Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig In this oral assessment I am going to talk about Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, Haig was a war leader in the First World War who led the army on few occasions. One of his most memorable battles was the battle of the Somme; in this battle the allies suffered over 2 million causalities and over 500,000 deaths. We may have won the battle and the war, but at a huge cost. In this assessment I am going to try arguing the case that Haig was a fool who cost the lives
Defining Field Marshal General Sir Douglas Haig Haig was a technical innovator; Haig was an old fashioned fool. Haig was a brilliant strategist; Haig was ignorant. Haig was a great man; Haig was hardly a man. Haig was easily the best man for the job; Haig was obviously the only man left for the job. All these views are shared by different people about Haig, in my essay I will put forward my views about Haig and justifications by referring to the facts. Douglas Haig was born on June 19th 1861
Field Marshal sir Douglas Haig as The Butcher Of The Somme Sir Douglas Haig was appointed Field Marshal of the British Army in 1915, as no progress had been made since 1914, when the First World War began. Trench warfare was introduced for the first time. Much of the nature of the fighting taking place in the First World War was alien to Haig and his Generals, a cavalry man who served with distinction during the second Boer War. In February 1916 the Germans attacked Verdun again, the
Field Marshall Haig Sir Douglas Haig replaced Sir John French as commander of the British army. He faced many problems from the state French had left the army in. He faced the task of planning battles and training his army. His tactics were first put to the test at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and the casualties began to rise into unacceptable numbers. The British army put their faith into Haig because of his reputation as a great leader. He had had past success' during the Boer War
These men were foolishly ordered by General Sir Douglas Haig to jump out of their trenches, hands by their side, and march into “No Man’s Land.” Unfortunately, the Germans reacted hastily and mowed the men down with machine guns. Withstanding these casualties, Haig went on with his attrition and “attack at all costs” battle tactics for a whole four months until the allies ‘defeated’ the Germans. It was
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig: War hero or butcher of the Somme? Many historians see the Somme as one of, if not the most, significant events of the war. The devastating casualties and deaths of the war left thousands without their loved ones, a whole generation was lost at the Somme. After the devastation of the war, many soldiers blamed Haig. It was thought that Haig's leadership was to blame for the tremendous amount of casualties and deaths of the Somme. The soldiers were thought to
only for the scale of casualties, but also for the mud. Ypres was the principal town within a salient (or bulge) in the British lines and the site of two previous battles: First Ypres (October-November 1914) and Second Ypres (April-May 1915). Haig had long wanted a British offensive in Flanders and, following a warning that the German blockade would soon cripple the British war effort, wanted to reach the Belgian coast to destroy the German submarine bases there. On top of this, the possibility
Sir Douglas Haig was born on the 19th June 1861. The Field Marshal was very highly ranked in the duration of The Great War. Haig was a British soldier and a senior Commander of The British Expeditionary Force from the year of 1915. General Haig is notorious for commanding the Battle Of The Somme and also renowned for the third battle of Ypres and various other victories leading to The Triple Entente’s victory of WW1. After the war, Haig was made an Earl and also received gratified thanks from both
suggests that Haig was an 'efficient and highly skilled soldier who did much to lead Britain to victory in the First World War'. Is there sufficient evidence in Sources C to L to support this interpretation? There are those that believe Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig was 'the Butcher of the Somme', those who would agree with John Keegan's opinion of Haig and those who see arguments for both views. Sources D, F, G and J do not support Keegan's interpretation of Haig. Source D is a
of the Somme but they are written by the same person which was Lloyd George. The two sources however were very different from each other. Source I was written by Lloyd George on the 21st of September 1916 when he visited the battlefield with Sir Douglas Haig. It says that Lloyd George was the secretary for the War at this time of the Somme he was the war leader from 1906-1916. Source J is very negative about the Battle of the Somme when compared to Source I. This was written in the 1930’s; he
LIEUTENANT--GENERAL SIR ARTHUR CURRIE (A brief account of the battle of Passchendaele) Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie was the most capable soldier that Canada has produced. Certainly, he did not look like the great soldier he had become. A very tall man, at six-foot-four, he was also somewhat overweight. Through his successes as the Commander of the Canadian Corps, he knew how to delegate authority and stand by the decisions of his subordinates. Currie, however, was not a professional soldier
Haig As a Leader I think Haig was a bad leader who made many critical mistakes during the battle of Passchendaele. From looking at the sources I can see many bad views of Haig as a war leader, although some good views can also be detected. In source A it is evident that Haig always ensured that his army was well equipped by asking the War Cabinet for more ammunition. I also know that Haig was
Haig as a Successful Commander Field Marshal Douglas Haig was one of the most controversial people of the Great War. While he brought eventual victory, he is accused of being responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of young men during 1916 and beyond. I will begin by looking at source C and the opinions of the fighting man on Haig. Fred Pearson was an infantryman that fought under Haig, and so might not have ever met him. His thoughts on Haig are in an angry, annoyed tone, saying
‘Does General Douglas Haig deserve his reputation as the “Butcher of the Somme?” as a plentiful amount of historians criticise him for why multitudinous soldiers died during the battle of the Somme, essentially due to his poor battle plan, but alongside every event there is two sides to what has happened. The battle of the Somme arose because the British and French armies were required to relive German pressure off the French town of Verdun as well as gaining an expansion of territory. Haig was chosen
French Commander-in-Chief, Joseph Joffre and was accepted by General Sir Douglas Haig, the British Expeditionary Force commander. Sir Haig and General Henry Rawlison came up with the plan to attack Somme. Sir Rawlison would be in charge of the main attack and his fourth army would advance towards Bapaume. While General Allenby and his cavalry division along with the third division would come up from behind and fill in the gaps. Haig had 27 division’s approx. 750,000 men under his command compared to
Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig (19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior commander in the First World War (WWI), and perhaps one of the most notable figures in British Military history. Although he served as the commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from 1915 to the end of the war – which was one of the greatest victories in Britain’s military history – the involvement during the Battle of the Somme, lead him to become one of the most criticized Commanders in the WWI. The Battle
The plan was agreed upon by the new British Commander in Chief, Sir Douglas Haig, although Haig would have preferred an offensive among the open ground of Flanders where they could execute their strategies more tactically. Haig intention was to carry out the attack using the ideas of both himself and General Rawlinson. People have interpreted General Haig’s role in ... ... middle of paper ... ... In conclusion I think that Haig should not be seen as the Butcher of Somme despite the large number
represents the negligent battle planning and technological advancements that are associated with the stalemate of World War One. Trench warfare was common across the Western Front, with similar strategies being employed by both opposing sides. Sir Douglas Haig, one of the British coordinators for the Somme offensive is blamed with an offensive strategy destined for failure. The British offensive, an utter failure, resulted in a stalemate, which was common throughout World War One. The British development
over the River Meuse and the Eastern front. The German offensive slowly gained ground and the desperate French pleaded for assistance from the British. In an effort to relieve the pressure on the French, the British commander in chief, Sir Douglas Haig agreed to open a major front along the banks of the River Somme, although not an ideal battle ground it happened to be where the British and French lines met. On the 1st July 1916, after a week of very heavy artillery bombardment, the allied
amount of casualties on the British side. There were also many colonial troops involved from the british commonwealth, for example: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India,etc. Leaders of the Somme Offensive: Sir Douglas Haig (1861-1928) Haig’s name is usually associated with the attack he lead on Somme due to its controversies of the amount of soldiers that died for such little gain. He led the 1st corps of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France. He was